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Tutu pleads for end to violence

Nobel peace laureate and struggle icon Desmond Tutu yesterday pleaded for calm as xenophobic violence continued to ravage Gauteng.

"Please, stop. Please, stop the violence now. This is not how we behave. These are our brothers and sisters," the churchman said in an impassioned statement.

Tutu, pictured, said that when South Africans were fighting against apartheid, they had been supported by people around the world, and particularly in Africa.

"We can't repay them by killing their children. We can't disgrace our struggle by these acts of violence. It is as if we are back in the days of the necklace.

"The world is shocked and is going to laugh at us and mock us. We are disgracing our struggle heroes. Our children will condemn us in the future."

Meanwhile, the ANC and the IFP met at Luthuli House yesterday to discuss ways of stemming the tide of violence.

The meeting came amid reports that the attacks had become more indiscriminate, with the perpetrators even targeting locals.

ANC spokesman Jessie Duarte said the meeting was aimed at ensuring the two parties worked together to isolate criminals operating in their constituencies.

She said it was important for the parties to put across a message that said all the people living in SA had rights. - Sowetan Reporter

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